John Stanley - Sherlock Holmes
Alfred Shirley - Dr. Watson


This audio is part of the collection: Old Time Radio
It also belongs to collection: Radio Programs

Artist/Composer: TCS
Keywords: TCS OTR; Sherlock Holmes

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Reviewer: holmessuspense22 - - December 23, 2011
Subject: John Stanley as Holmes
I have read a number of reviews regarding the Sherlock Holmes show featuring John Stanley and Alfred Shirley. Now I have listened to several of their episodes and I have mixed feelings with some of them. The ones that I thought were interesting were-The Laughing Lemur of Hightower Heath, Death is a Golden Arrow, the Serpent God, Prof. Moriarty and the Diamond Jubilee, New Year's Eve off the Scilly Isles, and the Bleeding Chandelier among others. But there were some that were kind of silly like the Cradle that Rocked Itself, the Christmas Bride, the Sinister Crate of Cabbages, Lady Waverly's Imitation Pearls, the Sudden Senility and the Everblooming Roses among them. Now while I think Stanley is a good radio Holmes he can be rude and sarcastic during different episodes and especially towards Watson as though they were trying to indicate that Shirley's Watson was like Nigel Bruce. Also while this 1947-1948 season on the MBS is all right I still like Rathbone and Bruce because of their work on radio and the movies. Also I never thought of Basil Rathbone as a snob when he was growing tired of being typecast as the great detective. After all he did not want to be always linked as the character all his life. John Stanley is no Basil Rathbone but to each his own and that's ok. But when you listen to the second season where Shirley is no longer playing Watson it kind of messes up the program. Not to mention that some of the shows during the 2nd season are not all that good. Like the Fabulous Windmill, the Uddington Witch, Island of the Dead, the Bloomsbury Ballad, the Logic of Murder, and the Mad Miners of Cardiff just to name a few. But while I am not saying Stanley is bad as Holmes I am just a Rathbone fan and always will be.

Reviewer: sam.shadde - - December 21, 2011
Subject: Classic Radio During It's Golden Age
I have to laugh at the less than positive reviews from obvious youngsters who do not understand the programs from the context of radio history. John Stanley was one of the more colorful and popular voice/radio stars of his days. And unlike Basil Rathbone who was a snob who thought himself too good for radio and left the Sherlock Holmes genre to be replaced by Stanley - I man who actually enjoyed playing Holmes.
These programs were adaption created by people who understood the war-wary minds of the audience in the US - some were returning veterans of WW2 and most just ordinary forks looking forward to something better after years of bloody global war. While purists will chafe at how Watson was played by Nigel Bruce, the fact is Conan Doyle's Watson while loyal and fit the British image of a righthand man, was not very lovable. And much of the Sherlock Holmes stories were rather dark and sinister - something that would not have been appetitizing to a war weary audience. These radio adaptions were quiet creative for it's days just as programs for HDTV are today.
The way to enjoy this is to first understand something about the times when these programs were first aired. Before sex and foul language were common accepted place in entertainment. Where the story's plot actually matter more than actors' off the stage reputation. Yes, stories actually had a plot. Which is more than I can say for what passes for entertainment today.

Reviewer: qrper - - May 12, 2010
Subject: Scripts good/acting bad
The scripts were written by Edith Meiser who was really responsible for bringing Holmes and Watson to American radio in the 1930's. She died in 1993 at the age of 95. A very enthusiastic fan of Doyle's creation.

Unfortunately, as another has suggested, the acting is awful. It gets a bit tiresome listening to the hissy-fits of Holmes and Watson (as presented by the two principal actors).

I'm sure Edith, in the control room, must have been grinding her teeth as she listened to these hammy outbursts.

I give it three-stars only because someone went through the effort of getting these programs on the net. For that, thank you.

Reviewer: manumoka - - January 22, 2009
Subject: Pretty well done
It must be hard to write a precisely timed A. C. Doyle knock-off every week. These are fairly well done originals, and a few Doyle derivations. Because of the compact nature of the scripts and the radio format, these productions move quickly, if somewhat superficially. As a result, the subtlety of the original characters is lost, and must be supplanted by what we have already read.

Still, despite the annoying Clipper Craft ads, the cheesy organ music, and some strange accents, the characters and stories are close enough to the originals as to be quite enjoyable in their familiarity.

Reviewer: guppypartz - - December 25, 2008
Subject: Still worth it for the stories and the rest of the cast
The stories are quite good, and the supporting cast seems especially good. But as with the second set of Stanley-Shirley, the constant bickering between Holmes and Watson is painful to hear.

Watson is played as thick as a brick. I wonder how many people involved in the production read the stories, or their only concept of Watson was the Nigel Bruce movies. Worse, this Watson second-guesses everything Holmes says and does. Which leaves us with the question: Why would Holmes, who is supremely intelligent and impatient with people, hook up with an idiot?

A natural erosion from Tom Conway's unpleasant acerbic version, Holmes is played as abrupt, conceited, sarcastic, and often speaks to Watson like he was a dog.